Page 82 of Hunted Hearts
Juliette drew a shuddering breath and looked out the window. The lights of the country club were slipping past. Wherever they were going, it wouldn’t be good.
Still, she clung to hope that Theo would come, even as a sharper, colder thought needled its way through the cracks of her resolve.
What if…he couldn’t?
Chapter Sixteen
Theo stood outside the country club, the cool mountain air pressing against his skin. He knew the sensation prickling across his senses for what it was.
A warning. It was quiet—too quiet. The after-party had started to wind down, but instead of a relief it vibrated with a dark undercurrent.
He tapped his earpiece. “Oaks, how’s that southwest perimeter?”
“All clear,” came his brother’s low response.
“Copy.” Theo moved around the side of the building, keeping to the shadows. There’d been reports of a purse thief. The cops were inside, trying to keep things low-key, but with everything else going here, Theo’s gut was tangled in knots.
He ducked into a side hallway and paused, pulling out his phone to check the live security feed from Juliette’s dressing room.
Emptiness stared back at him. Just an empty chair, scattered makeup, the black fabric of her gown she’d changed out of. Her heels lay by the door.
But no Juliette.
His pulse ticked faster.
He stared at the screen for several beats, willing her to come into view. She might be in the en suite bathroom.
He watched the seconds pass on the screen. Ten seconds…thirty…sixty. Still nothing but the intensifying throb of his own heart.
He switched camera angles and checked the hallway outside her room. The feed only recorded thirty minutes, so he couldn’t go back further.
The footage revealed nothing.
“Fucking hell,” he ground out.
“Theo? What’s wrong?” came the voice of Gray in his ear.
“Juliette. I can’t see her in the feed.”
“I’m coming.”
Theo started toward her room in a fast clip, each stride longer than the last. At that moment, a kitchen door opened, and several people pushing carts on their way to clear off the dinner tables spilled out.
Theo jerked to a stop before crashing into one. The young man’s eyes flew wide with alarm.
“Get out of the way!” Theo snarled, shoving through the group.
“Does anyone see her?” he barked to his brothers.
“Looking now. She could be in the bathroom.”
He didn’t believe that. Not when his sirens were blaring like the entire mountain was on fire.
He glanced at his phone again, thumb swiping to alternate views of the room—the north wall. The west.
Then he focused on the table where Juliette’s prized violin should be.
It wasn’t there.
